U.S. patent application number 16/954531 was filed with the patent office on 2020-10-29 for telecommunications apparatus and methods.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sony Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Sony Corporation, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.. Invention is credited to Anders BERGGREN, Vivek SHARMA, Shinichiro TSUDA, Hideji WAKABAYASHI, Yuxin WEI.
Application Number | 20200344572 16/954531 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000004968665 |
Filed Date | 2020-10-29 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200344572 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
WAKABAYASHI; Hideji ; et
al. |
October 29, 2020 |
TELECOMMUNICATIONS APPARATUS AND METHODS
Abstract
A method of operating a terminal device supporting a plurality
of positioning techniques which use positioning measurements made
by the terminal device and positioning assistance information
received from a location server to determine the location of the
terminal device. The method includes: establishing a target
location; selecting a first positioning technique for navigating
towards the target location; receiving first positioning assistance
information from the location server for the first positioning
technique; determining a first location of the terminal device in
accordance with the first positioning technique and the first
positioning assistance information; establishing a first trigger
for using a second positioning technique which is associated with
higher positioning accuracy than the first positioning technique;
and, in response to determining the first trigger is satisfied,
determining a second location of the terminal device in accordance
with the second positioning technique and second positioning
assistance information received from the location server.
Inventors: |
WAKABAYASHI; Hideji;
(Basingstoke, GB) ; BERGGREN; Anders;
(Basingstoke, GB) ; WEI; Yuxin; (Basingstoke,
GB) ; SHARMA; Vivek; (Basingstoke, GB) ;
TSUDA; Shinichiro; (Basingstoke, GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sony Corporation
Sony Mobile Communications Inc. |
Tokyo
Tokyo |
|
JP
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
Sony Corporation
Tokyo
JP
Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
1000004968665 |
Appl. No.: |
16/954531 |
Filed: |
December 14, 2018 |
PCT Filed: |
December 14, 2018 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2018/085047 |
371 Date: |
June 17, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 64/006 20130101;
G01S 5/0236 20130101; G01S 5/0263 20130101; H04W 4/024 20180201;
G01S 19/48 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04W 4/024 20060101
H04W004/024; G01S 5/02 20060101 G01S005/02; G01S 19/48 20060101
G01S019/48; H04W 64/00 20060101 H04W064/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 18, 2017 |
EP |
17208148.1 |
Claims
1. A method of operating a terminal device to provide a navigation
function in a wireless telecommunications system comprising the
terminal device and a location server, wherein the terminal device
supports a plurality of positioning techniques which use
positioning measurements made by the terminal device and
positioning assistance information received from the location
server to determine location information for the terminal device,
wherein the method comprises: establishing a target location;
selecting a first positioning technique to use for navigating
towards the target location; receiving first positioning assistance
information from the location server for the first positioning
technique; determining first location information for the terminal
device from positioning measurements made by the terminal device in
accordance with the first positioning technique and the first
positioning assistance information; establishing a first trigger
condition for using a second positioning technique, wherein the
first trigger condition is dependent on the target location; and,
in response to determining the first trigger condition is
satisfied, determining second location information for the terminal
device from measurements made by the terminal device in accordance
with the second positioning technique and second positioning
assistance information received from the location server for the
second positioning technique.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first trigger condition is
established by the terminal device from an indication of the first
trigger condition received from the location server.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the indication of the first
trigger condition is received from the location server in
association with the first positioning assistance information.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives at
least one of the first and second positioning assistance
information from the location server in response to transmitting a
request for the at least one of the first and second positioning
assistance information to the location server.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives at
least one of the first and second positioning assistance
information from the location server without transmitting a request
for the at least one of the first and second positioning assistance
information to the location server.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal device receives at
least one of the first and second positioning assistance
information in system information transmitted by a radio network
access node in the wireless telecommunications system.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second positioning assistance
information is obtained from the location server before determining
the first trigger condition is satisfied.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and/or second
positioning assistance information includes an indication of which
of the plurality of positioning techniques should be used by the
terminal device as the second positioning technique for determining
the second location information.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and/or second
positioning technique includes at least one positioning techniques
selected from the group comprising: a global navigation satellite
system positioning technique; a wireless local area network
positioning technique; a radio network access node identifier
positioning technique; a radio network access node ranging
technique; a radio beacon positioning technique; a gyroscopic
positioning technique; and a barometric pressure measurement
positioning technique.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second positioning
techniques rely on the same form of positioning measurements made
by the terminal device, but wherein the positioning measurements
are made more frequently by the terminal device in accordance with
the second positioning technique than in accordance with the first
positioning technique.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein first trigger condition is
associated with a threshold distance from the target location and
the first trigger condition is deemed to be satisfied when the
first location information for the terminal device indicates the
terminal device is within the threshold distance from the target
location.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein first trigger condition is
associated with an identifier for a radio network access node in
the wireless telecommunications system in the vicinity of the
target location, and wherein the first trigger condition is deemed
to be satisfied when the terminal device determines from radio
signalling received from the radio network access node associated
with the identifier that the terminal device is within a radio
coverage area served by the radio network access node.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a second
trigger condition for using a third positioning technique, wherein
the second trigger condition is dependent on the target location;
and, in response to determining the second trigger condition is
satisfied, determining third location information for the terminal
device from measurements made by the terminal device in accordance
with the third positioning technique and third positioning
assistance information received from the location server for the
third positioning technique.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to
determining the first trigger condition is satisfied, launching an
application on the terminal device for a location based
service.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and/or second
positioning assistance information includes information to support
the application launched on the terminal device for a location
based service.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the second location information
comprises an indication of an identifier or display location for an
object at the target location.
17. A terminal device for providing a navigation function in a
wireless telecommunications system comprising the terminal device
and a location server, wherein the terminal device supports a
plurality of positioning techniques which use positioning
measurements made by the terminal device and positioning assistance
information received from the location server to determine location
information for the terminal device, wherein the terminal device
comprises controller circuitry and transceiver circuitry configured
to operate together such that the terminal device is operable to:
establish a target location; select a first positioning technique
to use for navigating towards the target location; receive first
positioning assistance information from the location server for the
first positioning technique; determine first location information
for the terminal device from positioning measurements made by the
terminal device in accordance with the first positioning technique
and the first positioning assistance information; establish a first
trigger condition for using a second positioning technique, wherein
the first trigger condition is dependent on the target location;
and, to determine the first trigger condition is satisfied, and in
response thereto, to determine second location information for the
terminal device from measurements made by the terminal device in
accordance with the second positioning technique and second
positioning assistance information received from the location
server for the second positioning technique.
18.-23. (canceled)
24. A location server for supporting a navigation function for a
terminal device in a wireless telecommunications system, wherein
the location server is operable to provide the terminal device with
positioning assistance information for the terminal device to use
with positioning measurements made by the terminal device to
determine location information for the terminal device in
accordance with a plurality of positioning techniques, wherein the
location server comprises controller circuitry and transceiver
circuitry configured to operate together such that the location
server is operable to: receive from the terminal device an
indication of a target location; establish a first positioning
technique for the terminal device to use for navigating towards the
target location; establish first positioning assistance information
for the first positioning technique for the terminal device;
establish a first trigger condition for the terminal device to use
a second positioning technique, wherein the first trigger condition
depends on the target location; and transmit an indication of the
first positioning assistance information and an indication of the
first trigger condition to the terminal device.
25. (canceled)
Description
BACKGROUND
Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to telecommunications
apparatus and methods.
Description of Related Art
[0002] The "background" description provided herein is for the
purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work
of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in
this background section, as well as aspects of the description
which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing,
are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against
the present invention.
[0003] Third and fourth generation mobile telecommunication
systems, such as those based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term
Evolution (LTE) architecture, are able to support more
sophisticated services than simple voice and messaging services
offered by previous generations of mobile telecommunication
systems. For example, with the improved radio interface and
enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to
enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming
and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been
available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy
such networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these
networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is
possible, may be expected to increase ever more rapidly.
[0004] Future wireless communications networks will be expected to
routinely and efficiently support communications with a wider range
of devices associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles
and supporting a wider range of services than current systems are
optimised to support. For example it is expected future wireless
communications networks will be expected to support more
advanced/improved location-based services than current systems. In
view of this there is expected to be a desire for future wireless
communications networks, for example those which may be referred to
as 5G or new radio (NR) system/new radio access technology (RAT)
systems, as well as future iterations/releases of existing systems,
to efficiently support location/positioning services, for example
to provide a user with accurate/precise positioning
information/guidance while also managing the power required to
provide such services to help prolong device battery life.
[0005] The desire for new positioning/location services gives rise
to new challenges for efficiently supporting these services in
wireless telecommunications systems.
SUMMARY
[0006] Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure
are defined in the appended claims.
[0007] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary,
but are not restrictive, of the present technology. The described
embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best
understood by reference to the following detailed description taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of
the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the
same becomes better understood by reference to the following
detailed description when considered in connection with the
accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate
identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and
wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 schematically represents some aspects of a wireless
telecommunication system which may be configured to operate in
accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;
[0010] FIG. 2 schematically shows some example further aspects of a
terminal device according to an example embodiment of the present
disclosure;
[0011] FIG. 3 schematically represents some aspects of a wireless
telecommunication system in accordance with certain embodiments of
the present disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 4 schematically shows an example implementation
scenario of an approach in accordance with an example embodiment of
the present disclosure;
[0013] FIGS. 5 and 6 are signalling ladder diagrams (message
sequence charts) schematically representing some operating aspects
of wireless telecommunications systems in accordance with certain
embodiments of the disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram schematically representing some
operating aspects of a terminal device in accordance with certain
embodiments of the disclosure; and
[0015] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram schematically representing some
operating aspects of a location server in accordance with certain
embodiments of the disclosure.
DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS
[0016] FIG. 1 provides a schematic diagram illustrating some basic
functionality of a mobile telecommunications network/system 100
that may operate generally in accordance with LTE principles and/or
other radio access technologies, and which may be adapted to
implement embodiments of the disclosure as described herein.
Various elements of FIG. 1 and certain aspects of their respective
modes of operation are well-known and defined in the relevant
standards administered by the 3GPP (RTM) body, such as the 3GPP
TS36 series primarily relating to LTE [1] and the 3GPP TS38 series
primarily relating to NR [2]. It will be appreciated that
operational aspects of the telecommunications networks discussed
herein which are not specifically described (for example in
relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels
for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in
accordance with any known techniques, for example according to the
relevant standards and known proposed modifications and additions
to the relevant standards.
[0017] The network 100 includes a plurality of base stations 101
connected to a core network 102 and a location service server 306
(discussed further below). Each base station provides a coverage
area 103 (i.e. a cell) within which data can be communicated to and
from terminal devices 104. Data is transmitted from base stations
101 to terminal devices 104 within their respective coverage areas
103 via a radio downlink. Data is transmitted from terminal devices
104 to the base stations 101 via a radio uplink. Wireless
communications systems such as those arranged in accordance with
the 3GPP defined Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture may use an
orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) based interface for
the radio downlink (so-called OFDMA) and a single carrier frequency
division multiple access scheme (SC-FDMA) on the radio uplink. The
core network 102 routes data to and from the terminal devices 104
via the respective base stations 101 and provides functions such as
authentication, mobility management, charging and so on. Terminal
devices may also be referred to as mobile stations, user equipment
(UE), user terminal, mobile radio, communications device, and so
forth. Base stations, which are an example of network
infrastructure equipment/network access node, may also be referred
to as transceiver stations/nodeBs/e-nodeBs, g-nodeBs and so forth.
In this regard different terminology is often associated with
different generations of wireless telecommunications systems for
elements providing broadly comparable functionality. However,
certain embodiments of the disclosure may be equally implemented in
different generations of wireless telecommunications systems, and
for simplicity certain terminology may be used regardless of the
underlying network architecture. That is to say, the use of a
specific term in relation to certain example implementations is not
intended to indicate these implementations are limited to a certain
generation of network that may be most associated with that
particular terminology.
[0018] While certain embodiments may be generally described herein
in relation to the network architecture represented in FIG. 1, it
will be appreciated corresponding approaches may equally be adopted
in networks conforming to other overall configurations, for example
configurations associated with proposed approaches for new radio
access technology (RAT), NR, wireless mobile telecommunications
networks/systems. A new RAT network may comprise communication
cells that each comprise a controlling node in communication with a
core network component and a plurality of distributed units (radio
access nodes/remote transmission and reception points (TRPs))
within the cell. The distributed units may be responsible for
providing the radio access interface for terminal devices connected
to the NR network. Each distributed unit has a coverage area (radio
access footprint) which together define the coverage of the
communication cell. Each distributed unit includes transceiver
circuitry for transmission and reception of wireless signals and
processor circuitry configured to control the respective
distributed units. In terms of broad top-level functionality, the
core network component of such a new RAT telecommunications system
may be broadly considered to correspond with the core network 102
represented in FIG. 1, and the respective controlling nodes and
their associated distributed units/TRPs may be broadly considered
to provide functionality corresponding to base stations of FIG. 1.
Thus, the term network infrastructure equipment/access node may be
used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station
type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on
the application at hand the responsibility for scheduling
transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between
the respective distributed units and the terminal devices may lie
with the controlling node/centralised unit and/or the distributed
units/TRPs. A terminal device operating in this proposed new RAT
architecture may thus exchange signalling with a first controlling
node via one or more of the distributed units associated with the
controlling node. In some implementations the involvement of the
distributed units in routing communications from the terminal
device to a controlling node (controlling unit) may be transparent
to the terminal device. It will further be appreciated this example
represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for a new
RAT telecommunications system in which approaches in accordance
with the principles described herein may be adopted, and the
functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in respect of
wireless telecommunications systems having different
architectures.
[0019] Thus certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed
herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunication
systems/networks according to various different architectures, such
as the example architecture shown in FIG. 1. It will be appreciated
the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given
implementation is not of primary significance to the principles
described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the
disclosure may be described generally in the context of
communications between network infrastructure equipment/access
nodes and a terminal device, wherein the specific nature of the
network infrastructure equipment/access node and the terminal
device will depend on the network infrastructure for the
implementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios the network
infrastructure equipment/access node may comprise a base station,
such as an LTE-type base station 101 as shown in FIG. 1 which is
adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles
described herein, and in other examples the network infrastructure
equipment may comprise a control unit/controlling node and/or a TRP
in a new RAT architecture of the kind discussed above.
[0020] FIG. 2 schematically shows some components of a UE 104, a
base station 101 and a location server 306 according to an example
embodiment.
[0021] The UE 104 comprises circuitry for a plurality of different
position sensing technologies/techniques as schematically
represented in FIG. 2 by a first positioning circuit (circuitry)
200A, second positioning circuit (circuitry) 200B, . . . nth
positioning circuit (circuitry) 200N. These respective circuits may
be used by the terminal device to establish position estimates for
the terminal device in accordance with different position sensing
technologies. The UE further comprises, a receiver 201 and a
transmitter 202 (which together function as a
transceiver/transceiver circuitry for the terminal device) and a
controller (processor circuitry) 203. The respective positioning
circuits 200 comprises circuitry for determining a position for the
terminal device (UE) in accordance with different position sensing
technologies as discussed further herein. One of the positioning
sensing technologies in accordance with certain embodiments of the
disclosure is a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)
technology, such as GPS. Thus, in this example the first
positioning circuit 200A comprises a GNSS receiver. The receiver
201 is for reception of wireless signals (e.g. radio signals). The
transmitter 202 is for transmission of wireless signals (e.g. radio
signals). The controller 203 is configured to control the
positioning circuits 200, receiver 201 and transmitter 202 and to
control the UE 104 to operate in accordance with embodiments of the
present disclosure. The controller 203 may comprise various
sub-units for providing functionality in accordance with
embodiments of the present disclosure as explained further herein.
These sub-units may be implemented as discrete hardware elements or
as appropriately configured functions of the controller 203. Thus
the controller 203 may comprise circuitry that is suitably
configured/programmed to provide the desired functionality
described herein using conventional programming/configuration
techniques for equipment in telecommunications systems. The
positioning circuits/circuitry 200, receiver 201, transmitter 200
and controller 203 are schematically shown in FIG. 2 as separate
elements for ease of representation. However, it will be
appreciated that the functionality of these elements can be
provided in various different ways, for example using a single
suitably programmed computer, or suitably configured
application-specific integrated circuit(s)/circuitry. In
particular, although the position circuitry elements 200 shown in
FIG. 2 are represented separately from the controller circuitry
203, in generally the position circuitry may be considered a part
of the controller circuitry for the terminal device. That is to
say, the functions of the positioning circuits may be sub-functions
of the controller circuitry. It will also be appreciated that,
although not shown, the UE 104 will in general comprise various
other elements associated with its operating functionality, such as
a user interface, battery, and the like.
[0022] The base station (network access node) 101 comprises a
transmitter 205 and a receiver 204 (which together operate as a
transceiver/transceiver circuitry for the base station), a network
interface 208 and a controller (processor circuitry) 206. The
transmitter 205 is for transmission of wireless signals (e.g. radio
signals), the receiver 204 is for reception of wireless signals
(e.g. radio signals), the network interface 208 for transmission
and reception of signals (e.g. to and from a location server via
the core network as explained further herein) over a network such
as the internet, and the controller 206 is configured to control
the transmitter 205, receiver 204 and network interface 208 to
control the base station 101 to operate in accordance with
embodiments of the present disclosure. The controller 206 may
comprise various sub-units for providing functionality in
accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure as explained
further below. These sub-units may be implemented as discrete
hardware elements or as appropriately configured functions of the
controller 206. The controller 206 may comprise circuitry suitably
configured/programmed to provide the desired functionality
described herein using conventional programming/configuration
techniques for equipment in telecommunications systems. The
transmitter 205, receiver 204, network interface 208 and controller
206 are schematically shown in FIG. 2 as separate elements for ease
of representation. However, it will be appreciated that the
functionality of these elements can be provided in various
different ways, for example using a single suitably programmed
computer, or suitably configured application-specific integrated
circuit(s)/circuitry. It will be appreciated that, although not
shown, the base station 101 will in general comprise various other
elements associated with its operating functionality.
[0023] The data processing apparatus 306 comprises a network
interface 209, a storage medium 211 and a controller (processor
circuitry) 210. The network interface 209 is for transmission and
reception of signals (e.g. to and from infrastructure equipment,
such as the base station 101 via the core network, as discussed
further herein) over a network such as the internet. The storage
medium 211 is for storage of digital data (and may take the form of
a hard disk drive, solid state drive, tape drive or the like, for
example). The controller 210 is configured to control the network
interface 208 and storage medium 211 and to control the data
processing apparatus 306 to operate in accordance with embodiments
of the present disclosure The controller 210 may comprise various
sub-units for providing functionality in accordance with
embodiments of the present disclosure as explained further below.
These sub-units may be implemented as discrete hardware elements or
as appropriately configured functions of the controller 210. The
controller 210 may thus comprise circuitry suitably
configured/programmed to provide the desired functionality
described herein using conventional programming/configuration
techniques for equipment in telecommunications systems. The network
interface 209, storage medium 211 and controller 210 are
schematically shown in FIG. 2 as separate elements for ease of
representation. However, it will be appreciated that the
functionality of these elements can be provided in various
different ways, for example using a single suitably programmed
computer, or suitably configured application-specific integrated
circuit(s)/circuitry. It will be appreciated that, although not
shown, the data processing apparatus 306 will in general comprise
various other elements associated with its operating
functionality.
[0024] It has been proposed for wireless telecommunications systems
to include a location server to provide terminal devices with
information to help them when estimating their position and to
support location based services. For example, in one operating
scenario for the UE 104, the first positioning circuit (GNSS
receiver) 200A is configured to receive first signalling from one
or more signal emitting devices located at respective spatial
positions--i.e. positioning satellites, such as GPS satellites. The
transmitter 202 is configured to transmit second signalling to
infrastructure equipment (such as the base station 101) of the
wireless telecommunications network. The receiver 201 is configured
to receive third signalling from the infrastructure equipment, the
third signalling being transmitted by the infrastructure equipment
in response to the infrastructure equipment receiving the second
signalling, the third signalling indicating the respective spatial
positions of each of the one or more signal emitting devices (e.g.
GPS satellites). The third signalling may be comprised within a
system information block (SIB). The controller 203 is configured to
determine a spatial position of the terminal device based on the
received first and third signalling. In that sense, the terminal
device is able to obtain positioning information using its
positioning circuitry, and to request from the network information
to use in conjunction with its own positioning information to help
determine a position for the terminal device. The information
requested from the network may be communicated to the terminal
device in a system information broadcast, SIB, in an approach known
as on demand SIB. One aspect of using SIB is that the terminal
device may obtain the information in a radio resource connection,
RRC, idle or inactive mode.
[0025] In the base station 101, the receiver 204 is configured to
receive the second signalling from the terminal device/UE 104, the
second signalling being transmitted by the terminal device in
response to the terminal device receiving the first signalling
using its GNSS receiver 200A. The controller 206 is configured, in
response to the reception of the second signalling, to obtain
information on the respective spatial positions of each of the one
or more signal emitting devices (GNSS satellites) from the location
server. The transmitter 205 is configured to transmit third
signalling to the terminal device, the third signalling indicating
the respective spatial positions of each of the one or more signal
emitting devices and the third signalling being comprised within a
system information block (SIB) transmission.
[0026] Thus in an embodiment, the controller 203 of the UE 104 is
configured to determine a spatial position of the terminal device
using information obtained using its positioning circuitry and
associated assistance information obtained from the network, for
example using an on demand SIB approach to obtain the assistance
data from a location server. That is to say, in embodiments of the
present technique, the base station 101 (e.g. an LTE base station
(eNodeB) or NR base station (gNodeB)) may transmit assistance
information for positioning (comprised within the third signalling
in the above example implementation) using on-demand system
information. The UE 104 can receive the assistance information in
RRC idle mode or RRC inactive mode (although it may be noted note
that a RRC connected mode UE may also receive the assistance
information in the same way). To support on-demand system
information (SI) in this way, in an embodiment, UE signalling may
be transmitted in a random access procedure (e.g. in association
with Msg1 or Msg3 in a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure) for
requesting on-demand SI. While the foregoing provides one example
approach for a terminal device to request positioning systems
information from the network, it will be appreciated in accordance
with other example implementations the terminal device may obtain
positioning assistance information for use in accordance with
embodiments of the disclosure in other ways, i.e. without using
on-demand SIB. However, on-demand to SIB approaches may be
particularly suitable for helping reduce terminal device power
consumption since it allows positioning assistance data to be
obtained by the terminal device in idle/inactive RRC mode.
[0027] Further details on some proposals for on-demand SI
approaches are provided in WO2016/130353 [3], for example. Also,
further details on the use of network positioning assistance
information and more general aspects of proposed LPP (location
position protocol) approaches may be found, e.g., in the document
"LTE Location Based Services--Technology Introduction" white paper
published by Rohde and Schwarz, April 2013 [4], available at:
http://www.rohde-schwarz-wireless.com/documents/LTELBSWhitePaper_RohdeSch-
warz.pdf.
[0028] FIG. 3 schematically shows some further aspects of the
telecommunications system 100 configured to support operations in
accordance with certain embodiments of the disclosure. As noted
above, many aspects of the operation of the telecommunications
system/network 100 are known and understood and are not described
here in detail in the interest of brevity. Aspects of the
architecture and operation of the telecommunications system 100
which are not specifically described herein may be implemented in
accordance with any previously proposed techniques, for example
according to current 3GPP standards, such as the 3GPP TS36 series
primarily relating to LTE [1] and 3GPP TS38 series primarily
relating to NR [2], and other proposals for operating wireless
telecommunications systems/networks. The network access node 101
may, for convenience, sometimes be referred to herein as a base
station 101, it being understood this term is used for simplicity
and is not intended to imply the network access node should conform
to any specific network architecture, but on the contrary, may
correspond with any network infrastructure equipment/network access
node that may be configured to provide functionality as described
herein. In that sense it will appreciated the specific network
architecture in which embodiments of the disclosure may be
implemented is not of primary significance to the principles
described herein.
[0029] Thus the telecommunications system 100 comprises the core
network part (evolved packet core) 102 coupled to a radio network
part and a location service server 306. The radio network part
comprises the radio network access node (e.g. base station in an
LTE implementation) 101 and the terminal device 104. It will of
course be appreciated that in practice the radio network part may
comprise a plurality of network access nodes serving a larger
number of terminal devices across various communication cells.
However, only a single network access node and one terminal device
are shown in FIG. 3 in the interests of simplicity.
[0030] The terminal device 104 is arranged to communicate data to
and from the network access node (transceiver station/network
infrastructure equipment) 101 which in turn is communicatively
coupled to the core network 102, which provides an interface to
external application servers, such as the location service server
306. In the user plane (U-plane) 351, data is exchanged between the
UE 104, base station 101, serving gateway 320, packet data network
(PDN) gateway 322, SLP (SUPL, Secure User plane Location, Location
Platform) 330 in the location service server 306 and LCS client 360
via the SUPL and/or LPP protocols. In the control plane (C-plane)
352, data is exchanged between the base station 101, mobile
management entity (MME) 318 and evolved serving mobile location
centre, E-SMLC, 344 (comprised within the location service server
306) via the LPPa (LTE Positioning Protocol Annexe) protocol.
Furthermore, data is exchanged between the UE 104, base station
101, MME 318 and E-SMLC 344 via the LPP protocol. More details
regarding the overall architecture represented in FIG. 3 may be
found, for example, in the document "LTE Location Based
Services--Technology Introduction" white paper published by Rohde
and Schwarz, April 2013 [4] and available at
http://www.rohde-schwarz-wireless.com/documents/LTELBSWhitePaper_RohdeSch-
warz.pdf, for example. This architecture is also applicable to NR
(in which case the base station 504 may be more frequently referred
to as a gNobeB rather than an eNodeB).
[0031] It may be noted that in some implementations, the location
server (LC) 306 may in effect be the same as the E-SMLC 344 because
UE positioning may be implemented using a C-plane based solution
(i.e. without using the U-plane). In more recent approaches,
however, a U-plane solution may also be used (as enabled by SUPL
2.0 protocol, for example). In that regard, in accordance with
embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "location server"
may be used to include the use of both the C-plane case and U-plane
case. More specifically, it will be appreciated a location server
of certain embodiments may be provided in accordance with a
proprietary standard/cloud service of a service provider. More
generally, other such location services could be used. The location
server of certain embodiments may sometimes be referred to as a
"SUPL server". However, this should be understood to mean an SUPL
server or suitable equivalent. In general, it is noted that, in
3GPP, the LPP protocol is defined between the UE 104 and location
server 306. On the other hand, the Radio Resource Control (RRC)
protocol is defined between the 104 UE and base station 101.
[0032] Thus, terminal devices operating in a wireless
telecommunications system may make use of the approaches discussed
above to use a location server to help establish position estimates
for the terminal device, for example to support a navigation
service. The location server may be used to help establish a
position for the terminal device based on different position
sensing technologies. For example, for a position sensing
technology based on a GNSS receiver at the terminal device, the
location server may be configured to provide ephemeris information
for the satellite constellation which is more accurate than the
ephemeris information that is otherwise currently available to the
terminal device. For a position sensing technology based on
barometric pressure measurements at the terminal device (e.g. to
determine altitude), the location server may be configured to
provide atmospheric pressure information for the terminal device to
use to calibrate its barometric measurements. For a position
sensing technology based on radio beacon detection, for example
based on proximity to a Bluetooth low-energy beacon, the location
server may be configured to provide location and identification
information for the beacon(s). More generally, it will be
appreciated for any of the many different positioning sensing
technologies that may be adopted in accordance with embodiments of
the disclosure, the location server may be configured to provide
relevant positioning assistance information. Furthermore, it will
be recognised the specific position sensing technologies used, and
the specific nature of the assistance information provided by a
location server, in accordance with certain embodiments of the
disclosure is not of primary significance. Rather, what is of more
significance for some example approaches is the manner in which a
terminal device may be configured to make use of different ones of
a plurality of position sensing technologies associated with its
corresponding plurality of positioning circuits.
[0033] With the increased availability of position information for
terminal devices, new services may be provided. Some of these
services may rely on more precise positioning information than
currently provided location-based services. For example, it is
currently possible for a mobile device to help a user locate a shop
in a particular town. For example, a user may identify a product
they wish to obtain by browsing an Internet website associated with
a particular shop. The user may then use a mapping application and
GPS receiver in their terminal device to obtain directions to the
shop. Typically a GPS receiver will provide positioning information
with an accuracy on the order of 10 metres or so, and works best
outdoors. This means while GPS may guide a user to the shop itself,
it is not generally able to provide the user with guidance to a
specific location for a particular product of interest within the
shop.
[0034] In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, a terminal
device supports a plurality of different position sensing
technologies and may use different ones at different times. For
example, the terminal device may use GPS (or other GNSS) to bring
the user to a shop, but may then use a different positioning
sensing technology to direct the user to a location for the product
of interest within the shop, for example based on a barometric
pressure sensor to determine whether the user is on the correct
floor of the shop or needs to go up or down, wifi-based (WLAN)
position estimates to determine when the user is in the correct
area of the relevant floor in the shop, and a Bluetooth beacon
sensor to determine when the user is within beacon detection range
of a short-range beacon associated with the product of
interest.
[0035] Thus certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to what
might be referred to as hybrid positioning techniques, i.e.
approaches using a combination of more than one positioning
method/technique, for example including one or more of: [0036] a
global navigation satellite system, GNSS, positioning technique;
[0037] a wireless local area network, WLAN, positioning technique;
[0038] a radio network access node identifier positioning
technique, e.g. using cell ID/eCID; [0039] a radio network access
node ranging positioning technique, e.g. using OTDOA; [0040] a
radio beacon positioning technique, e.g. using BTLE beacons; [0041]
a gyroscopic/inertial positioning technique, e.g. using solid state
inertial sensors; and [0042] a barometric pressure measurement
positioning technique, e.g. using a pressure sensor.
[0043] It will be appreciated these different example positioning
techniques are generally associated with different degrees of
positioning accuracy and areal extents. For example, GNSS may have
an accuracy of around 10 m and can be generally used across the
entire surface of the Earth, but may work relatively poorly
indoors. Techniques based on detecting radio network access node
identifiers, e.g. cell ID, may provide an indication of a location
to an accuracy corresponding to cell size (e.g. a few hundred
metres) and may be used across a wireless telecommunication system,
potentially using additional positioning information, for example
briefly activating GNSS to resolve potential ambiguities arising
from identifier reuse in a system. As another example, WLAN ranging
techniques may provide accuracy on the order of several metres, and
can be used wherever an appropriate WLAN is deployed, including
indoors. Techniques based on radio beacon positioning, e.g. using
BTLE beacons, may provide accuracy on the order of tens of cm and
may be used when in range of where a beacon is deployed.
[0044] Table 1 below sets out some positioning technologies/methods
currently proposed for 3GPP wireless telecommunications systems
with an indication of the how these methods are expected to be
implement. In this regard, UE-based refers to implementations in
which a terminal device (UE) calculates its position itself using
information received from the network, UE-assisted refers to
implementations in which the network, e.g. at a location server,
calculates the position of a terminal device based on measurements
received from the terminal device (an external server may retrieve
the position information and/or it may be transmitted to the
terminal device), and Network-assisted refers to implementations in
which more than one base station/functionality attached to more
than one base station performs measurements which are sent to a
location server to calculate the position of a terminal device (an
external server may retrieve the position information and/or it may
be transmitted to the terminal device). In addition to this,
stand-alone positioning approaches refer to methods in which a UE
performs measurement and estimate its position by itself without
any support from the network/location server. For example, using
only information received from satellites for GNSS positioning.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Some currently proposed UE positioning
methods support status. UE-assisted network assisted UE-based
location server location server UE estimates the estimates the
estimates Positioning Method position position the position
Assisted-GNSS Yes Yes No OTDOA Yes (REL-15 ) Yes No Enhanced cell
ID No Yes Yes (direction of arrival) UTDOA No No Yes Barometric Yes
(REL-14) Yes No WLAN Yes (REL-14) Yes No Bluetooth No Yes No
Terrestrial Beacon System Yes (REL-14) Yes No (TBS)
[0045] For 3GPP based Bluetooth positioning, current proposals
support UE-assisted (E-SMLC-based) Bluetooth positioning. As
indicated in table 8.8.2.1-1 in 3GPP TS 36.305 V14.2.0 (2017-06)
[5], proposals are for the UE to send Bluetooth location
information, such as MAC address (beacon ID) to a location server
(E-SMLC). The UE transfers Bluetooth Location Information to
location server (E-SMLC) in cases of UE-assisted positioning
methods (i.e. UE location is not transferred). On the other hand,
UE transfers UE Location Information to the location server in
cases of standalone positioning methods.
[0046] The location server has a database of beacon access points
and uses this to estimate the position of the UE. For example, a
location server may generate a query for the database with a beacon
ID as input, then the database may respond with the corresponding
location. The location server may then send an indication of the
position to the UE. In some situations a UE may not be able to
communicate with a location server, for example when channel
quality is poor. In accordance with certain embodiments of the
disclosure, the location server may provide assistance information
including a trigger criterion for Bluetooth receiver activation and
mapping between Bluetooth ID and location (e.g. geographic
coordinates or other information which defines the location (e.g.
the building name and floor). This can help provide UE-based
Bluetooth positioning and may provide power saving of UE.
[0047] Stand-alone based Bluetooth positioning is another
implementation that uses Bluetooth beacons outside of 3GPP REL-13.
With examples of this approach a UE application activates its
Bluetooth receiver by itself (i.e. stand-alone positioning).
However, this typically requires the application to be running
(i.e. foreground running). When the application is running in the
background or is dormant state (this behaviour depends on the UE's
operation system functionality), the Bluetooth receiver may be
disabled/subject to measurement disruption. If the application is
to estimate an accurate position from a received Bluetooth ID, the
database of all beacon locations and correspondingly allocated IDs
should be stored in the US database. This can be challenging in
view of the possible number of beacons. For example, hundreds of
beacon might be installed in a single building, and the target
building could be one of many. In view if this it may be preferable
if the application can confine to the target area in a small zone.
In currently proposed solutions, a customized application for a
limited shop/area is commonly used. The application may thus
connect to the specific application server and send a detected
beacon ID. The application server may then provide the beacon
location based on ID or trigger to launch the service (e.g. mobile
coupon). The specific application is installed in advance and the
user activates that application in the shop (then, Bluetooth
receiver is on). The UE should also be able to communicate to the
network when the UE detects the Bluetooth ID. To meet these
conditions to implement this approach is not in general conducive
to low UE power consumption.
[0048] Based on this, a preferable Bluetooth approach in some cases
may be one that: (i) does not relay on cellular coverage, channel
quality, or network connection; (ii) does not rely on a specific
application to be installed and running; (iii) helps to reduce the
database size relating Bluetooth beacon IDs and location mapping
for the UE; (iv) to help support relatively low power consumption
allows the UE to activate its Bluetooth receiver when near the
target without needing to receive an instruction from the location
server or network application, and certain approaches in accordance
with some of the principles discussed herein can help in at least
some of these regards.
[0049] Certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein
can help to provide approaches that provide a compromise between
accuracy of positioning and UE power consumption for positioning.
In general, relatively more accurate positioning methods (e.g. Real
Time Kinematics Precise point positioning, RTK-PPP) can often
require relatively more power consumption for a UE. In addition,
assistance information for RTK-PPP is typically much larger than
for conventional A-GNSS, with assistance information typically
having a shorter validity time smaller validity area. Conversely,
relatively low accuracy positioning methods (e.g. using enhanced
cell ID) are often associated with relatively low power consumption
for the UE. A UE supporting plural positioning methods/techniques
may thus use different techniques at different times to seek to
balance the frequently competing requirements of positioning
accuracy and power consumption. For example, RTK-PPP may be used
when the UE is near a target location (where available), but not
when the UE is still relatively far from the target location. This
kind of approach may be referred to as multi-level or multi-stage
positioning, and certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to
such approaches.
[0050] Based on the above discussion, a preferable GNSS positioning
approach in some cases may be one for which: (i) the UE does not
receive an excessive amount of assistance information for PPP; (ii)
the UE does not have expired (obsolete) assistance information; and
(iii) the UE has relatively low power consumption, for example the
UE should aim to not stay in connected mode for too long and to be
selective of when it uses PPP, and certain approaches in accordance
with some of the principles discussed herein can help in at least
some of these regards.
[0051] An example approach in accordance with certain embodiments
of the disclosure will be described in the context discussed above
in which a user may wish to be directed to a specific location in a
shop, for example to purchase an item of interest identified from
browsing an Internet website for the vendor of the product.
However, it will be appreciated the specific scenario in which
certain embodiments of the disclosure are implemented, for example
in terms of why a user may wish to navigate to a particular target
location, is not of primary significance to the principles
described herein.
[0052] Approaches in accordance with certain example
implementations adopt a multi-level/multi-stage positioning methods
in which different ones of a plurality of positioning techniques
supported by a terminal device are used as the terminal device gets
closer to a target location. In that regard the general strategy
may be seen as one in which a terminal device which is relatively
far from the target location may use a first positioning technique
which is relatively inaccurate but consumes relatively low power,
and as the terminal device gets closer to the target location it
may be triggered to start using a second positioning technique
which consumes more power, but is more accurate. In some cases the
first and second positioning techniques may be based on different
position sensing technologies. For example, the first position
sensing technique may be a GNSS technique and the second
positioning technique may be a WLAN technique. However, in other
cases the second positioning technique may in some respects be
considered a modified/supplemented version of the first positioning
technique. For example, the first positioning technique may be a
GNSS technique and the second positioning technique may be a GNSS
technique in which measurements are made more frequently than with
the first positioning technique, or which are supplemented with
additional sensor information, for example a barometric sensor to
facilitate an altitude determination, or infrared sensor to
facilitate a temperature detection (for example if the target
location is associated with a hot or cold temperature--for example
a refrigerator in a shop).
[0053] Thus higher accuracy positioning may provide further
location based services and make further usage of sensors. For
example, it may be determined that a user is standing in front of
item in a shop. Further assistance information may suggest to
activate sensors to recognize the user behaviour. For example, the
UE may activate a e-compass or gyro-sensor when at the location of
interest, so the UE may estimate what the user is looking at and
the direction of their attention, or estimate motion. This may be
especially useful for wearable type devices like glasses or a
watch, for example.
[0054] FIG. 4 schematically represents an implementation scenario
of an approach in accordance with certain embodiments of the
disclosure. It will be assumed a user starting at location A wishes
to use their terminal device to navigate towards a target location
represented as X in FIG. 4. The axis along the bottom of FIG. 4
schematically represents a distance from the target (non-linear
scale). The distance between the UE and the target may be broadly
categorised as far, near and proximate, as schematically indicated
in the figure. Different positioning techniques may be considered
more appropriate for different ranges, for example as follows:
[0055] Greater than a few hundreds of metres (e.g. at location A in
FIG. 4): When the current UE position is far from the target
location/point of interest (POI), the UE may be configured to use a
relatively low accuracy/fidelity positioning method with relatively
low power consumption. E.g. cell-id based, or based on
discontinuous GNSS detection, for example making GNSS measurements
only once every minute or so.
[0056] Between a few hundreds of metres and a few tens of metres
(e.g. at location B in FIG. 4): When the current UE position is in
this kind of range from the target location, the UE may be
configured to use a higher accuracy positioning method associated
with a higher power consumption. E.g. based on more frequent GNSS
measurements, for example making measurements once every few
seconds or continuously.
[0057] Between a few tens of metres and a few metres (e.g. at
location C in FIG. 4): When the current UE position is in this kind
of range from the target location, the UE may be configured to use
a more reliable/accurate indoor positioning method associated with
a higher load/cost for use, e.g. in terms of relying on relatively
large amounts of assistance information, more frequent updating of
assistance information, relatively high power consumption (e.g.
WLAN) and/or radio communication (e.g. connected mode operation),
and so on.
[0058] Below a few metres (e.g. at location D in FIG. 4): When the
current UE position is in this kind of range from the target
location (e.g. in the immediate vicinity), the UE may be configured
to use a more localised positioning method, for example based on
detecting signalling from a BTLE beacon that is close to the target
location to indicate when the UE is in range of the BTLE beacon.
Thus a user within a few metres of the target location the user may
be expected to move around the general area to wait to see when the
UE has detected the BTLE beacon (e.g. when at location E in FIG.
4), which may have a range of the order of a few tens of
centimetres, for example. For example, for a detected beacon ID the
UE can use its position and transmit power to estimate accurate
position. In another example, the UE may receive signalling from
more than one BTLE beacon for which the UE knows the corresponding
beacon ID and position from assistance information, to further help
positioning accuracy.
[0059] In short, in accordance with certain embodiments of the
disclosure an appropriate positioning technology (e.g. sensor) may
be selected for use from those available having regard to the
proximity to the target location/point of interest.
[0060] It will be appreciated that when the terminal device start
using a new positioning technique as it approaches the target
location, it may use the new technique instead of or in addition to
the previously used technique depending on the implementation at
hand.
[0061] It will also be appreciated the identification of specific
distances for the above discussed ranges and the proposed
positioning techniques within these ranges are provided here merely
by way of example, and in any given implementation the appropriate
distances from the target location at which to start using a
different positioning system will vary depending, for example, on
the extent to which the terminal device needs to preserve power and
the relative accuracy of the different positioning technologies the
terminal device supports.
[0062] As discussed further herein, one aspect of certain
embodiments of the disclosure is how a location server in a
wireless telecommunications network, e.g. the location server 306
represented in FIGS. 1 to 3, may facilitate the process of a
terminal device navigating to a target location, for example by
providing positioning assistance information to supplement
positioning measurements made by the terminal device in the context
of a multi-level/multi-stage process of the kind discussed above.
In this regard, it will be appreciated the manner in which the
positioning assistance information is used to supplement
positioning measurements made by the terminal device to derive a
location for the terminal device may be in accordance with
conventional approaches for assisted positioning in wireless
telecommunications systems. That is to say, what is significant is
not the nature of the specific positioning sensing techniques and
the specific positioning assistance information used to derive
particular locations for the terminal device, but the manner in
which these approaches may be implemented in a
multi-level/multi-stage positioning/navigation process of the kinds
discussed herein.
[0063] Providing the assistance information could be in either a
single step or multiple stages. By single step it is meant the
location server may provide assistance information for multiple
stages in one step. However, in some cases it may be preferable for
a multi-stage approach for providing assistance information to be
used. For example, the validity time for assistance information
could be short. For example, the assistance information for GNSS
with RTK-PPP could be shorter validity time than that for normal
GNSS so it may be preferable to receive it just before needing it,
otherwise, it could be obsolete when the UE uses it. Also, the
volume of assistance information could in some cases be large. For
example, if the Bluetooth beacons are installed an airport shopping
mall, the number of beacons for the whole building could be
hundreds to thousands requiring the UE to maintain a large
database/record of assistance information if the information is not
provided in stages. Furthermore, a possible combination of
assistance information could be too much to send. For example, the
possible route/course which a user takes could be more than one. If
one step assistance information delivery is used, the location
server may need to provide assistance information which for all the
potential route/courses, some of which will never be needed.
[0064] Thus, one approach in accordance with embodiments of the
disclosure for the scenario represented in FIG. 4 may be
implemented in a number of steps as follows.
[0065] When the UE 101 is at location A, it is initially configured
to navigate towards target location X. That is to say, the UE
establishes a target location, for example in response to user
input. In principle the user may enter specific coordinates for
location X, but in practice it may be more likely that these
coordinates are obtained quasi-automatically, for example by the
user indicating in a web browsing session that the user wishes to
obtain a particular product, with the web browser then providing
the coordinate information to the navigating function of the
terminal device directly (the navigation function may be a separate
application running on the terminal device or a sub-function of the
web browser, for example).
[0066] In this example it is assumed the terminal device is
configured to initially use its GNSS receiving circuitry to
establish its initial location (i.e. location A in the example of
FIG. 4). Furthermore, the terminal device is configured to receive
positioning assistance information from the location server for the
terminal device to use in conjunction with its GNSS measurements to
determine location information. In this example the terminal device
may receive this information by transmitting a request for the
information to the location server, via a base station to which the
terminal device is currently connected. In accordance with some
example implementations the terminal device may also provide the
location server with an indication of the target location, and
potentially an indication of its own location, for example based on
non-assisted positioning estimates or its most recent previous
estimate using positioning assistance information, to help the
location server determine the most appropriate positioning
assistance information to provide to the terminal device. When the
terminal device has received the positioning assistance information
and made measurements with its GNSS circuitry, it may determine its
location and from this the distance to the target location. In this
example scenario the UE is assumed to be far from the target
location, for example greater than 300 metres, at location A. Based
on the relatively large distance to the target location, the
terminal device may determine that it should use its GNSS receiver
in a discontinuous manner when providing location information to
the user to help the user navigates to the target location.
[0067] However, the terminal device may also establish a trigger
condition which, when satisfied, will cause the terminal device to
activate a second more accurate positioning technique. In this
example it is assumed the next stage positioning technique (i.e.
having higher positioning accuracy/reliability but at the cost of
higher power consumption) is GNSS continuous activation, and the
terminal device is configured to activate this when it detects it
is in the coverage area of a base station which covers the location
of the target location. It will be appreciated that rather than
GNSS continuous activation, GNSS discontinuous operation with a
higher frequency may be used before or instead of GNSS continuous
activation. The indication of the relevant cell ID for the base
station which is to cause the terminal device to switch to GNSS
continuous activation may be provided to the terminal device by the
location server in association with the positioning assistance
information. The location server may determine the appropriate cell
ID from a preconfigured database of locations covered by the
different radio network access nodes (base stations) comprising the
wireless telecommunications system and the indication of the
desired target location received from the terminal device. In
another example the trigger condition may be such that the terminal
device determines it should switch to continuous GNSS activation
when it is within a given distance, for example 300 metres, of the
target location. This threshold distance may be preconfigured for
the terminal device, or provided to the terminal device in
association with positioning assistance information in a similar
manner to that discussed above for the cell ID. For a trigger
condition based on detecting a specific cell ID, the condition may
also include a requirement for a signal strength/quality
characteristic (e.g. RSRP/RSRQ) and/or direction of signal arrival
(beamforming direction) to meet a predefined condition. For example
there may be a requirement for the terminal device to receive
signalling from the network access node associated with the
relevant cell ID with at least a threshold power level, or from a
particular direction (e.g. indicting network access node is in
broadly the same direction as the target location) before the
trigger condition is deemed to be satisfied. Here the trigger
condition may be judged by the terminal device depending on whether
the current positioning technique is available or not at the
position (e.g. the terminal device may switch to WLAN based
positioning technique if out of coverage of GNSS signal, for
example because it is indoors or the like). Furthermore this
judgement of the trigger condition may include activating other
positioning technique (e.g. turning on dedicated sensors).
[0068] The terminal device may thus monitor for when the trigger
condition is satisfied, and when it is determined the trigger
condition is satisfied (e.g. when the terminal device starts to
receive signalling from the network access node associated with the
relevant cell ID or it is determined to be within the predetermined
threshold distance of the target location depending on
implementation), the terminal device may start using the next stage
positioning technique to determine its location. Depending on
implementation, this may involve obtaining updated positioning
assistance information for use with the new positioning technique.
In some cases the terminal device may not require updated
positioning assistance information, for example because it already
has relevant assistance information for GNSS positioning, but may
nonetheless obtain positioning assistance information in accordance
with certain embodiments of the disclosure to provide an indication
of the next trigger condition for switching to the next level/stage
positioning technique.
[0069] The general process discussed above may continue for
different stages of the multi-stage approach. For example, the
terminal device may be configured to switch to WLAN positioning,
and to obtain relevant positioning assistance information, when the
next trigger condition is met, which may be that the terminal
device is determined to be within a different threshold distance of
the target location, for example 30 metres, or when it is
determined the terminal device is about to enter a building. This
may be determined, for example, because the location server set the
trigger condition based on a known location for the entrance to a
building containing the target location. Thus, the terminal device
may start using a WLAN positioning technique to guide the user
towards the target location. Furthermore, when the next trigger
condition is met, for example when the terminal device is within
three metres of the target location, the terminal device may be
configured to activate the next level of positioning in the
multi-stage approach. In this example this is considered to be
seeking a radio beacon associated with the target location, for
example a BTLE beacon, wherein the identifier for the BTLE beacon
associated with the target location is provided to the terminal in
device positioning assistance information. For example, the
terminal device may be configured to request new positioning
assistance information whenever it is triggered to switch to a
different position sensing technology.
[0070] There are different ways in which the terminal device 104
may obtain positioning assistance information, and in particular an
indication of the trigger conditions for activating different
positioning techniques, from the location server 306. One way is
using a data radio bearer (DRB), as schematically indicated in FIG.
5, while another way is using an on-demand system information (SI)
technique, as schematically indicated in FIG. 6.
[0071] FIG. 5 is a ladder diagram schematically representing some
operating aspects of the wireless telecommunications system 100
discussed above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 in accordance with
certain embodiments of the disclosure. In particular, the diagram
represents some operations and signalling exchange associated with
the terminal device 104, the network access node/base station/eNB
104, the MME 318, the PDN gateway 322, and the location server 306
in accordance with certain embodiments of the disclosure.
[0072] In step Q1 the UE 101 sends an indication of the target
location (POI) to location server 306. The UE may also send
capability to location server. UE may indicate the POI via an
external server, such as an LBS (location based service) server.
For example, the user may use a map/navigation application with a
smart phone to identify the POI and the application server may
indicate it to SUPL server.
[0073] In step Q2 the location server generates the first trigger
condition based on the target location. The first trigger condition
may, for example, be based on defining a relatively large geo-fence
zone around the target location/building containing the target
location (POI) using SUPL 2.0 geo-fencing, and in condition may be
considered satisfied if the terminal device determines it has
entered the geo-fenced zone. As another example the trigger
condition may relate to an identifier for a radio access node (e.g.
cell ID) or Wi-Fi access point (this may require new information
element in the positioning assistance data to convey the relevant
information). It may be noted that in some implementations this
kind of trigger condition information could be preconfigured at the
terminal device instead of being received from the location
server.
[0074] In step Q3 the location server transmits an indication of
the first trigger condition to the terminal device. As noted above,
in some cases the terminal device may establish the trigger
condition itself, for example based on an internally established
geo-fence, in which case steps Q1 and Q2 may be omitted.
[0075] SUPL 2.0 triggered services may assume a relatively large
zone for geo-fencing, for example corresponding to cell-ID or WLAN
and conventional GNSS. In general, the practical radius of
geo-fencing may be considered to be on the order of a 50-100 m
range. If a smaller area is defined, it may lead to an undesirable
number of false/miss-detection events. Thus while geo-fencing mat
help guide a user to an outdoor zone near a target building/POI, it
is not always suitable for use inside buildings. On the other hand,
there may be applications for which a terminal device would benefit
from sub-meter level precise positioning, such as maybe achieve
with RTK-PPP GNSS or Bluetooth beacons. The assistance information
for these may be valid for a relatively small area/short timing
window. In these cases procedures for providing assistance
information such as through on-demand SI may be considered
appropriate.
[0076] The UE now continues to generate location information for
its own position in accordance with the relevant positioning
technique for the present stage (e.g. using discontinuous GNSS for
the first stage, i.e. with the UE at location A, represented in
FIG. 4) to guide the user towards the target location. In addition
the UE monitors for when the trigger criterion is satisfied, which
in this example is assumed to occur in step Q4.
[0077] In step Q4 the UE 101 detects the trigger (e.g. geo-fence)
is satisfied, and then in step Q5 the UE initiates establishment of
EPS bearer between UE and P-GW 322. P-GW establish the EPS bearer
in response to the UE initiation. The procedures of RRC connection
may be in accordance with conventional procedures, for example as
set out in 3GPP TS 36.331 V14.2.2 (2017-05) [6], and details of the
Core network procedures for UE triggered Service Request may be in
accordance with conventional procedures, for example as set out in
3GPP TS 36.401 V14.0.0 (2017-03) [7]. UE may use the signalling
bearer (SRB) if location server in in C-plane.
[0078] In step Q7, the EPS bearer is established between UE and
location server (it is assumed that the location server is
connected to P-GW with IP network).
[0079] In step Q8, UE sends the request of assistance information
(or current location).
[0080] In step Q9, the location server generate the assistance
information and next trigger.
[0081] In step Q10, the location server sends the assistance
information for next positioning methods and the further trigger
condition.
[0082] In Step Q11, the network release the EPS bearer.
[0083] In Step Q12, the UE uses the received assistance information
and starts using the next positioning methods and configures the
further trigger condition.
[0084] Current proposals for using positioning assistance
information do not incorporate the ability to communicate an
indication of a trigger condition for activating a new positioning
technique/obtaining further positioning assistance information when
sending a positioning assistance information message
(ProvideAssistanceData) (see, for example TS 36.355 [8]). Therefore
it is proposed in accordance with certain embodiments of the
disclosure to introduce a new information element into the
positioning assistance information signalling message, for example
which may be called "provideTriggerForFurtherAssistanceData", for
example. The contents of this information element may, for example,
include the relevant cell ID, an associated RSRP, the relevant
threshold distance, and so on according to the nature of the
specific trigger condition. For example the new information element
may be implemented as follows:
TABLE-US-00002 ProvideAssistanceData : := SEQUENCE {
criticalExtensions CHOICE { c1 CHOICE { provideAssistanceData-r9
ProvideAssistanceData-r9-IEs,
provideTriggerForFurtherAssistanceData, spare3 NULL, spare2 NULL,
spare1 NULL }, criticalExtensionsFuture SEQUENCE { } } }
[0085] Furthermore, current proposals for using positioning
assistance information do not incorporate the ability for an
assistance information request (RequestAssistanceData) message to
show whether the request is for positioning assistance information
for a currently used positioning technique or for a different
positioning technique. Therefore it is proposed in accordance with
certain embodiments of the disclosure to introduce a new
information element into the request assistance data signalling
message, in some examples this may indicate the specific
positioning technique, whereas in other examples it may simply
indicate the relevant stage number of a pre-defined multi-level
positioning method, and may, for example be called "stage". This
the new information element may, for example, be implemented as
follows
TABLE-US-00003 -- ASN1START RequestAssistanceData : := SEQUENCE {
criticalExtensions CHOICE { c1 CHOICE { requestAssistanceData-r9
RequestAssistanceData-r9-IEs, Stage, Stage, spare3 NULL, spare2
NULL, spare1 NULL }, criticalExtensionsFuture SEQUENCE { } } }
[0086] Furthermore still, current proposals for using positioning
assistance information do not incorporate the ability to include an
indication of a trigger condition for activating a sensor, such as
gyroscope sensor, a barometric sensor, a temperature sensor, or an
image/camera sensor, when sending a positioning assistance
information for a sensor message (Sensor-ProvideAssistanceData).
Therefore it is proposed in accordance with certain embodiments of
the disclosure to introduce a new information element into the
positioning assistance information for a sensor signalling message,
for example which may be called
"sensor-AssistanceDataTriggerCondtion", for example. The contents
of this information element may, for example, include the relevant
cell ID, an associated RSRP, the relevant threshold distance, and
so on according to the nature of the specific trigger condition.
For example the new information element may be implemented as
follows:
TABLE-US-00004 -- ASN1START Sensor-ProvideAssistanceData-r14 : :=
SEQUENCE { sensor-AssistanceDataList-r14
Sensor-AssistanceDataList-r14 OPTIONAL, -- Need ON sensor-Error-r14
Sensor-Error-r13 OPTIONAL, -- Need ON
sensor-AssistanceDataTriggerCondtion
sensor-AssistanceDataTriggerCondtion OPTIONAL, -- Need ON ... } --
ASN1STOP
[0087] FIG. 6 is a ladder diagram schematically representing some
operating aspects of the wireless telecommunications system 100
discussed above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 in accordance with
certain embodiments of the disclosure. In particular, the diagram
represents some operations and signalling exchange associated with
the terminal device 104, the network access node/base station/eNB
104, the MME 318, the PDN gateway 322, and the location server 306
in accordance with certain embodiments of the disclosure. It will
be appreciated a number of the steps in FIG. 6 are similar to and
will be understood from the above description of corresponding
steps in FIG. 5.
[0088] In step R1 the UE 101 sends an indication of the target
location (POI) to location server 306.
[0089] In step R2 the location server generates the first trigger
condition based on the target location. The first trigger condition
may, for example, be based on defining a relatively large geo-fence
zone around the target location/building containing the target
location (POI) using SUPL 2.0 geo-fencing, and in condition may be
considered satisfied if the terminal device determines it has
entered the geo-fenced zone. As another example the trigger
condition may relate to an identifier for a radio access node (e.g.
cell ID) or Wi-Fi access point (this may require new information
element in the positioning assistance data to convey the relevant
information). It may be noted that in some implementations this
kind of trigger condition information could be preconfigured at the
terminal device instead of being received from the location
server.
[0090] In step R3 location server transmits an indication of the
first trigger condition to the terminal device. As noted above, in
some cases the terminal device may establish the trigger condition
itself, for example based on an internally established geo-fence,
in which case steps R1 and R2 may be omitted.
[0091] The UE now continues to generate location information for
its own position in accordance with the relevant positioning
technique for the present stage (e.g. using discontinuous GNSS for
the first stage, i.e. with the UE at location A, represented in
FIG. 4) to guide the user towards the target location. In addition
the UE monitors for when the trigger criterion is satisfied, which
in this example is assumed to occur in step R4.
[0092] In step R5, in response to the UE detecting the first
trigger condition is met, the UE sends a request for on-demand SI
(e.g. using a random access procedure) to the base station and in
step S6 the base station sends an assistance information request
message to the location server 306.
[0093] The request for on-demand SI in this example may be made
generally in accordance with previously proposed techniques, but
modified to include an indication of the positioning technique in
respect of which the positioning assistance information is sought.
This may be a specific indication of the relevant positioning
technique or an indication of the relevant stage/level in a
pre-defined multi-level hierarchy of positioning techniques (e.g.
as proposed above).
[0094] In step R7 the location server determines the relevant
positioning technique for the next stage of the multi-level
positioning and the associated trigger condition for the next stage
after that and also the relevant assistance information for the
next stage of the multi-level positioning procedure.
[0095] In step R8 the location server sends the relevant assistance
information to the base station.
[0096] In step R9 the base station transmits the relevant
assistance information to the terminal device in system
information.
[0097] In Step R10, the UE uses the received assistance information
and starts using the next positioning method(s) and configures the
further trigger condition.
[0098] Thus in accordance with some examples of the present
disclosure a network may send a terminal device assistance
information for hybrid positioning that includes trigger conditions
for changing positioning method.
[0099] Thus, to summarise some of the key points of approaches in
accordance with some examples of the invention, which may each be
implemented independently of each other:
[0100] A UE may send an assistance information request based on a
previous configured/pre-defined trigger condition being satisfied.
In some examples the trigger of next level assistance information
may be provided by the previous assistance information or
pre-configuration. In some examples the UE does not indicate the
specific positioning method in the request and the location server
decide it itself.
[0101] A UE may receive the assistance information in response to
its request. In some examples, In some examples current assistance
information and next assistance information may be for different
positioning methods/techniques. On some examples the assistance
information is associated with a trigger condition for the next
level request. The UE may use the received assistance information
for hybrid positioning.
[0102] The assistance information may indicate the terminal should
use a combination of more than one positioning methods (techniques)
or sensors.
[0103] A location server may receive the assistance information
request from UE via a base station.
[0104] The assistance information request may be triggered
according to a condition associated with the previous assistance
information or pre-configured (e.g. a geo-fence). In some examples
the assistance information request may include a one bit
information element to indicate a request for assistance
information for the next stage of a multi-level/hierarchical
positioning method. This single-bit approach may be particularly
helpful for requesting positioning assistance information using
on-demand SI as smaller amounts of data can be more readily
conveying in a preamble associated with requesting on-demand SI. In
other cases the assistance information request may include a more
bits of information to indicate a request for assistance
information for a specific positioning technique.
[0105] The location server may generate the relevant assistance
information. In doing this, account may be taken of, for example:
the target location (POI) for the UE and/or the UE's current
position or geo-fence status and/or UE measurement results (e.g.
RSCP) and/or UE positioning sensor values (e.g. barometer).
[0106] The location server sends the assistance information to UE
via the base station. A Transaction End Flag for the assistance
information may indicate the end of information for this level of
positioning. The assistance information may be communicated via
on-demand system information or via a data radio bearer (DRB).
[0107] The terminal device may in some cases be separately
configured with each of the multi-level trigger conditions with
assistance information, although the approaches discussed above
have focussed on multi-stage assistance information provision.
[0108] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram schematically representing some
operating aspects of a terminal device in accordance with certain
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0109] The method of FIG. 7 is performed by the terminal device 101
to provide a navigation function in a wireless telecommunications
system 100 comprising the terminal device 101 and a location server
306, wherein the terminal device supports a plurality of
positioning techniques which use positioning measurements made by
the terminal device and positioning assistance information received
from the location server to determine location information for the
terminal device.
[0110] In step S1 the terminal device establishes (identifies) a
target location, for example based on user input.
[0111] In step S2 the terminal device selects a first positioning
technique to use for navigating towards the target location. This
may be selected according to a predefined multi-stage positioning
approach in accordance with a current positioning stage for the
terminal device, or based on an indication of which positioning
technique to use received from the location server, for
example.
[0112] In step S3 the terminal device receives first positioning
assistance information from the location server for the first
positioning technique. This may be received, for example, using
on-demand system information or a dedicated data radio bearer. In
some cases the positioning assistance information may be received
from the location server in response to the terminal transmitting a
request for the positioning assistance information to the location
server. In other examples the terminal device may receive the
positioning assistance information from the location server without
transmitting a request for the positioning assistance information
to the location server.
[0113] For example the location server may autonomously determine
to send the positioning assistance information to the terminal
device, e.g. based on positioning information for the terminal
device being received at the location server which indicates the
terminal device is moving towards a location where it may be
triggered to use a positioning technique that relies on the
positioning assistance information.
[0114] In step S4 the terminal device determines first location
information (i.e. one or more position estimates) for the terminal
device from positioning measurements made by the terminal device in
accordance with the first positioning technique and the first
positioning assistance information.
[0115] In step S5 the terminal device establishes a first trigger
condition for using a second positioning technique, wherein the
second positioning technique is associated with higher positioning
accuracy than the first positioning technique and wherein the first
trigger condition is dependent on the target location. In some
cases the trigger condition may be established by the terminal
device from an indication of the first trigger condition received
from the location server. For example, in some implementations the
indication of the first trigger condition may be received from the
location server in association with the first positioning
assistance information,
[0116] In step S6, in response to determining the first trigger
condition is satisfied, the terminal device determines second
location information for the terminal device from measurements made
by the terminal device in accordance with the second positioning
technique and second positioning assistance information received
from the location server for the second positioning technique.
[0117] The second positioning assistance information may have been
received by the terminal device in response to the terminal device
requesting the information in response to determining the first
trigger condition is satisfied. In some cases the second
positioning assistance information may have been received by the
terminal device before the first trigger condition is satisfied,
for example it may have been pre-emptively provided by the location
server. The second positioning technique may be selected according
to a predefined multi-stage positioning approach in accordance with
a relevant positioning stage for the terminal device, or based on
an indication of which positioning technique to use received from
the location server, for example in the first and/or second
positioning assistance information.
[0118] It will be appreciate the method represented in FIG. 7 may
be repeated for further stages in the multi-stage positioning
process. That is to say, in some implementations the method
represented in FIG. 7 may further comprise the terminal device
establishing a second trigger condition for using a third
positioning technique, wherein the third positioning technique is
associated with higher positioning accuracy than the second
positioning technique and the second trigger condition is also
dependent on the target location; and, in response to determining
the second trigger condition is satisfied, determining third
location information for the terminal device from measurements made
by the terminal device in accordance with the third positioning
technique and third positioning assistance information received
from the location server for the third positioning technique.
[0119] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram schematically representing some
operating aspects of a location server in accordance with certain
embodiments of the disclosure.
[0120] The method of FIG. 8 is performed by the location server to
support a navigation function for the terminal device 101 in the
wireless telecommunications system 100, wherein the location server
is operable to provide the terminal device with positioning
assistance information for the terminal device to use with
positioning measurements made by the terminal device to determine
location information for the terminal device in accordance with a
plurality of positioning techniques.
[0121] In step T1 the location server receives from the terminal
device an indication of a target location. The location server may
also receive an indication of UE capability, for example in terms
of the positioning techniques/methods and associated sensors the UE
supports and/or an indication of the terminal device's currently
estimated position. Alternatively, the terminal device may indicate
a target location to an application server (e.g. a map/navigation
website), and the application server may forward this to the
location server (i.e. the indication of the target location may be
received form the terminal device via an intermediate node).
[0122] In step T2 the location server establishes a first
positioning technique for the terminal device to use for navigating
towards the target location. In some cases the location server may
determine a location for the terminal device, for example based on
information received from the terminal device, and the first
positioning assistance information may be established in dependence
on the determined location for the terminal device. In some cases
the location server may know the supported positioning methods
near/inside it the POI. For example, whether the target building
may have WIFI access points or Bluetooth beacons for positioning
and/or if cellular coverage/other communication is available near
the POI. In some examples, precise positioning GNSS may be
available near the target, for example outdoors. Base on this
knowledge or database of POI and available positioning methods, the
location server may make a decision to use the multi-stage
positioning.
[0123] In step T3 the location server establishes first positioning
assistance information for the first positioning technique for the
terminal device.
[0124] In step T4 the location server establishes a first trigger
condition for the terminal device to use a second positioning
technique, wherein the second positioning technique is associated
with higher positioning accuracy than the first positioning
technique, and wherein the first trigger condition depends on the
target location.
[0125] In step T5 the location server transmits an indication of
the first positioning assistance information and an indication of
the first trigger condition to the terminal device. In some cases
the location server may also transmit an indication of which of the
plurality of positioning techniques is the second positioning
technique to the terminal device.
[0126] In some cases the method represented in FIG. 8 may further
include the location server establishing second positioning
assistance information for the second positioning technique and
transmitting an indication of the second positioning assistance
information to the terminal device. The transmitting of the
indication of the second positioning assistance information to the
terminal device may in some cases be performed in response to
receiving from the terminal device an indication the first trigger
condition has been satisfied.
[0127] Thus there has been described a method of operating a
terminal device to provide a navigation function in a wireless
telecommunications system comprising the terminal device and a
location server, wherein the terminal device supports a plurality
of positioning techniques which use positioning measurements made
by the terminal device and positioning assistance information
received from the location server to determine location information
for the terminal device, wherein the method comprises: establishing
(determining) a target location; selecting a first positioning
technique to use for navigating towards the target location;
receiving first positioning assistance information from the
location server for the first positioning technique; determining
first location information for the terminal device from positioning
measurements made by the terminal device in accordance with the
first positioning technique and the first positioning assistance
information; establishing a first trigger condition for using a
second positioning technique, wherein the second positioning
technique is associated with higher positioning accuracy than the
first positioning technique and wherein the first trigger condition
is dependent on the target location; and, in response to
determining the first trigger condition is satisfied, determining
second location information for the terminal device from
measurements made by the terminal device in accordance with the
second positioning technique and second positioning assistance
information received from the location server for the second
positioning technique.
[0128] In some cases, the method may further comprise, in response
to determining the first trigger condition is satisfied, launching
an application on the terminal device for a location based service.
In some cases the first and/or second positioning assistance
information includes information to support the application
launched on the terminal device for a location based service.
[0129] In some cases, the second location information may comprises
an indication of an identifier or display location for an object at
the target location.
[0130] In some cases, first positioning assistance information may
relate to RRC idle/inactive mode positioning while the second
positioning assistance information may relate to RRC connected mode
positioning. In some cases, first positioning assistance
information may relate to positioning with less frequent
measurement/position estimation than the second positioning
assistance information. In some cases, first positioning assistance
information may relate to positioning with lower power consumption
operation than the second positioning assistance information.
[0131] With some positioning techniques a UE is conventionally
expected to use RRC connected mode, for example to report a
detected Bluetooth beacon ID to a location server. However, in
accordance with some examples of the present disclosure, the
positioning assistance information may include location information
for beacon IDs in the vicinity of the POI/the beacon ID associated
with a trigger condition such that the UE does not need to report
this to the network and so may stay in an idle/inactive mode
longer, thereby saving power.
[0132] In some cases, a trigger condition may correspond with a
detection of moving from outdoor to indoor (e.g. based on loss of
GNSS signalling). In some cases, a condition may be detection of a
cell ID or WLAN access point which may indicate the UE is entering
a relatively large zone like a shopping street. In some cases, a
trigger condition may be a geo-fencing configuration by SUPL
trigger.
[0133] It will be appreciated that while the present disclosure has
in some respects focused on implementations in an LTE-based and/or
5G network for the sake of providing specific examples, the same
principles can be applied to other wireless telecommunications
systems. Thus, even though the terminology used herein is generally
the same or similar to that of the LTE and 5G standards, the
teachings are not limited to the present versions of LTE and 5G and
could apply equally to any appropriate arrangement not based on LTE
or 5G and/or compliant with any other future version of an LTE, 5G
or other standard, including proprietary standards, and also
wireless telecommunications systems that do not conform to a
standard.
[0134] It may be noted various example approaches discussed herein
may rely on information which is predetermined/predefined in the
sense of being known by both the base station and the terminal
device or other elements of a network. It will be appreciated such
predetermined/predefined information may in general be established,
for example, by definition in an operating standard for the
wireless telecommunication system, or in previously exchanged
signalling between the relevant network elements, for example in
system information signalling, or in association with radio
resource control setup signalling/application layer signalling.
That is to say, the specific manner in which the relevant
predefined information is established and shared between the
various elements of the wireless telecommunications system is not
of primary significance to the principles of operation described
herein. It may further be noted various example approaches
discussed herein rely on information which is
exchanged/communicated between various elements of the wireless
telecommunications system and it will be appreciated such
communications may in general be made in accordance with
conventional techniques, for example in terms of specific
signalling protocols and the type of communication channel used,
unless the context demands otherwise. That is to say, the specific
manner in which the relevant information is exchanged between the
various elements of the wireless telecommunications system is not
of primary significance to the principles of operation described
herein.
[0135] Further particular and preferred aspects of the present
invention are set out in the accompanying independent and dependent
claims. It will be appreciated that features of the dependent
claims may be combined with features of the independent claims in
combinations other than those explicitly set out in the claims.
[0136] Thus, the foregoing discussion discloses and describes
merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. As will be
understood by those skilled in the art, the present invention may
be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the
spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Accordingly, the
disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative,
but not limiting of the scope of the invention, as well as other
claims. The disclosure, including any readily discernible variants
of the teachings herein, define, in part, the scope of the
foregoing claim terminology such that no inventive subject matter
is dedicated to the public.
[0137] Respective features of the present disclosure are defined by
the following numbered paragraphs:
[0138] Paragraph 1. A method of operating a terminal device to
provide a navigation function in a wireless telecommunications
system comprising the terminal device and a location server,
wherein the terminal device supports a plurality of positioning
techniques which use positioning measurements made by the terminal
device and positioning assistance information received from the
location server to determine location information for the terminal
device, wherein the method comprises: establishing a target
location; selecting a first positioning technique to use for
navigating towards the target location; receiving first positioning
assistance information from the location server for the first
positioning technique; determining first location information for
the terminal device from positioning measurements made by the
terminal device in accordance with the first positioning technique
and the first positioning assistance information; establishing a
first trigger condition for using a second positioning technique,
wherein the first trigger condition is dependent on the target
location; and, in response to determining the first trigger
condition is satisfied, determining second location information for
the terminal device from measurements made by the terminal device
in accordance with the second positioning technique and second
positioning assistance information received from the location
server for the second positioning technique.
[0139] Paragraph 2. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the first
trigger condition is established by the terminal device from an
indication of the first trigger condition received from the
location server.
[0140] Paragraph 3. The method of paragraph 2, wherein the
indication of the first trigger condition is received from the
location server in association with the first positioning
assistance information.
[0141] Paragraph 4. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 3,
wherein the terminal device receives at least one of the first and
second positioning assistance information from the location server
in response to transmitting a request for the at least one of the
first and second positioning assistance information to the location
server.
[0142] Paragraph 5. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 4,
wherein the terminal device receives at least one of the first and
second positioning assistance information from the location server
without transmitting a request for the at least one of the first
and second positioning assistance information to the location
server.
[0143] Paragraph 6. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 5,
wherein the terminal device receives at least one of the first and
second positioning assistance information in system information
transmitted by a radio network access node in the wireless
telecommunications system.
[0144] Paragraph 7. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 6,
wherein the second positioning assistance information is obtained
from the location server before determining the first trigger
condition is satisfied.
[0145] Paragraph 8. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 7,
wherein the first and/or second positioning assistance information
includes an indication of which of the plurality of positioning
techniques should be used by the terminal device as the second
positioning technique for determining the second location
information.
[0146] Paragraph 9. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 8,
wherein the first and/or second positioning technique includes at
least one positioning techniques selected from the group
comprising: a global navigation satellite system positioning
technique; a wireless local area network positioning technique; a
radio network access node identifier positioning technique; a radio
network access node ranging technique; a radio beacon positioning
technique; a gyroscopic positioning technique; and a barometric
pressure measurement positioning technique.
[0147] Paragraph 10. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 9,
wherein the first and second positioning techniques rely on the
same form of positioning measurements made by the terminal device,
but wherein the positioning measurements are made more frequently
by the terminal device in accordance with the second positioning
technique than in accordance with the first positioning
technique.
[0148] Paragraph 11. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 10,
wherein first trigger condition is associated with a threshold
distance from the target location and the first trigger condition
is deemed to be satisfied when the first location information for
the terminal device indicates the terminal device is within the
threshold distance from the target location.
[0149] Paragraph 12. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 11,
wherein first trigger condition is associated with an identifier
for a radio network access node in the wireless telecommunications
system in the vicinity of the target location, and wherein the
first trigger condition is deemed to be satisfied when the terminal
device determines from radio signalling received from the radio
network access node associated with the identifier that the
terminal device is within a radio coverage area served by the radio
network access node.
[0150] Paragraph 13. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 12,
further comprising establishing a second trigger condition for
using a third positioning technique, wherein the second trigger
condition is dependent on the target location; and, in response to
determining the second trigger condition is satisfied, determining
third location information for the terminal device from
measurements made by the terminal device in accordance with the
third positioning technique and third positioning assistance
information received from the location server for the third
positioning technique.
[0151] Paragraph 14. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 13,
further comprising, in response to determining the first trigger
condition is satisfied, launching an application on the terminal
device for a location based service.
[0152] Paragraph 15. The method of paragraph 14, wherein the first
and/or second positioning assistance information includes
information to support the application launched on the terminal
device for a location based service.
[0153] Paragraph 16. The method of any one of paragraphs 1 to 15,
wherein the second location information comprises an indication of
an identifier or display location for an object at the target
location.
[0154] Paragraph 17. A terminal device for providing a navigation
function in a wireless telecommunications system comprising the
terminal device and a location server, wherein the terminal device
supports a plurality of positioning techniques which use
positioning measurements made by the terminal device and
positioning assistance information received from the location
server to determine location information for the terminal device,
wherein the terminal device comprises controller circuitry and
transceiver circuitry configured to operate together such that the
terminal device is operable to: establish a target location; select
a first positioning technique to use for navigating towards the
target location; receive first positioning assistance information
from the location server for the first positioning technique;
determine first location information for the terminal device from
positioning measurements made by the terminal device in accordance
with the first positioning technique and the first positioning
assistance information; establish a first trigger condition for
using a second positioning technique, wherein the first trigger
condition is dependent on the target location; and, to determine
the first trigger condition is satisfied, and in response thereto,
to determine second location information for the terminal device
from measurements made by the terminal device in accordance with
the second positioning technique and second positioning assistance
information received from the location server for the second
positioning technique.
[0155] Paragraph 18. Circuitry for a terminal device for providing
a navigation function in a wireless telecommunications system
comprising the terminal device and a location server, wherein the
terminal device supports a plurality of positioning techniques
which use positioning measurements made by the terminal device and
positioning assistance information received from the location
server to determine location information for the terminal device,
wherein the circuitry comprises controller circuitry and
transceiver circuitry configured to operate together such that the
circuitry is operable to: establish a target location; select a
first positioning technique to use for navigating towards the
target location; receive first positioning assistance information
from the location server for the first positioning technique;
determine first location information for the terminal device from
positioning measurements made by the terminal device in accordance
with the first positioning technique and the first positioning
assistance information; establish a first trigger condition for
using a second positioning technique, wherein the first trigger
condition is dependent on the target location; and, to determine
the first trigger condition is satisfied, and in response thereto,
to determine second location information for the terminal device
from measurements made by the terminal device in accordance with
the second positioning technique and second positioning assistance
information received from the location server for the second
positioning technique.
[0156] Paragraph 19. A method of operating a location server to
support a navigation function for a terminal device in a wireless
telecommunications system, wherein the location server is operable
to provide the terminal device with positioning assistance
information for the terminal device to use with positioning
measurements made by the terminal device to determine location
information for the terminal device in accordance with a plurality
of positioning techniques, wherein the method comprises: receiving
from the terminal device an indication of a target location;
establishing a first positioning technique for the terminal device
to use for navigating towards the target location; establishing
first positioning assistance information for the first positioning
technique for the terminal device; establishing a first trigger
condition for the terminal device to use a second positioning
technique, wherein the first trigger condition depends on the
target location; and transmitting an indication of the first
positioning assistance information and an indication of the first
trigger condition to the terminal device.
[0157] Paragraph 20. The method of paragraph 19, further comprising
transmitting an indication of which of the plurality of positioning
techniques is the second positioning technique to the terminal
device.
[0158] Paragraph 21. The method of paragraph 19, further comprising
establishing second positioning assistance information for the
second positioning technique and transmitting an indication of the
second positioning assistance information to the terminal
device.
[0159] Paragraph 22. The method of paragraph 21, wherein the
transmitting the indication of the second positioning assistance
information to the terminal device is performed in response to
receiving from the terminal device an indication the first trigger
condition has been satisfied.
[0160] Paragraph 23. The method of paragraph 19, further comprising
determining a location for the terminal device, and wherein the
first positioning assistance information is established in
dependence on the determined location for the terminal device.
[0161] Paragraph 24. A location server for supporting a navigation
function for a terminal device in a wireless telecommunications
system, wherein the location server is operable to provide the
terminal device with positioning assistance information for the
terminal device to use with positioning measurements made by the
terminal device to determine location information for the terminal
device in accordance with a plurality of positioning techniques,
wherein the location server comprises controller circuitry and
transceiver circuitry configured to operate together such that the
location server is operable to: receive from the terminal device an
indication of a target location; establish a first positioning
technique for the terminal device to use for navigating towards the
target location; establish first positioning assistance information
for the first positioning technique for the terminal device;
establish a first trigger condition for the terminal device to use
a second positioning technique, wherein the first trigger condition
depends on the target location; and transmit an indication of the
first positioning assistance information and an indication of the
first trigger condition to the terminal device.
[0162] Paragraph 25. Circuitry for a location server for supporting
a navigation function for a terminal device in a wireless
telecommunications system, wherein the location server is operable
to provide the terminal device with positioning assistance
information for the terminal device to use with positioning
measurements made by the terminal device to determine location
information for the terminal device in accordance with a plurality
of positioning techniques, wherein the circuitry comprises
controller circuitry and transceiver circuitry configured to
operate together such that the circuitry is operable to: receive
from the terminal device an indication of a target location;
establish a first positioning technique for the terminal device to
use for navigating towards the target location; establish first
positioning assistance information for the first positioning
technique for the terminal device; establish a first trigger
condition for the terminal device to use a second positioning
technique, and wherein the first trigger condition depends on the
target location; and transmit an indication of the first
positioning assistance information and an indication of the first
trigger condition to the terminal device.
REFERENCES
[0163] [1] http://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/36-series.htm [0164] [2]
http://www.3gpp.org/DynaReport/38-series.htm [0165] [3]
WO2016/130353 [0166] [4] LTE Location Based Services--Technology
Introduction", Thorpe, Kottkamp, Rossler, Rohde and Schwarz, April
2013 [0167] [5] 3GPP TS 36.305 V14.2.0 (2017-06) [0168] [6] 3GPP TS
36.331 V14.2.2 (2017-05) [0169] [7] 3GPP TS 36.401 V14.0.0
(2017-03) [0170] [8] 3GPP TS 36.355 V14.3.0 (2017-09)
* * * * *
References